The Flames went toe to toe with the VCU Rams, eventually falling, 64-59. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. As we said after the season opener against Cairn on Friday, the improvement from this time a year ago is obvious. The Flames are much better at the start of the season than they were a year ago. How that will translate into wins and losses is unknown at this point as it’s still too early to tell, but this team will be competitive all year long and will be fun to watch.
  2. The size difference between the Flames and Rams was noticeable. Not necessarily from a length and height perspective, but in muscle mass. It’s not a shocker, as VCU’s roster is full of upper-class men; whereas, Liberty is primarily consisted of freshmen and sophomores.
  3. This team is so deep and has so much balance. 11 Flames played and 8 scored. The Flames didn’t pick up a double figure scorer until the 10 minute mark when A.C. Reid scored a bucket to get to 11 points.
  4. Caleb Homesley was a a matchup problem for the Rams as he will be most nights. He’s typically one of the longest players on the court, but he has the skillset of a guard. At times against VCU, he was matched up with their post, and he was able to take them off the dribble to the basket. He’s still out of control at times, but with more and more experience he will be an all-conference performer.
  5. Incredible poise from the true freshman Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz. He got big minutes on a big stage and proved he was capable of the challenge. He took a charge in transition, and attacked the basket with confidence. McKay trusted to play him down the stretch, and he rewarded him by knocking down clutch free throws under pressure. Pacheco-Ortiz finished the game connecting on 7 of his 8 free throws.
  6. What a great experience for the young Flames. Valuable game time for so many first and second year guys in a hostile environment against NCAA Tournament caliber team. These types of games will only help Liberty as they continue to mature as a team and program.
  7. Myo Baxter-Bell proved his worth against the veteran front line of VCU. The redshirt-freshman finished the game with 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals before fouling out late in the game.
  8. The Flames did as well as they did against a great program with an off-night from John Dawson. The senior captain played just 7 minutes in the 1st half due to early foul trouble. He went on to finish the game with 14 points in 23 minutes and had 4 steals before fouling out in the final seconds.
  9. Liberty has now lost 14 consecutive non-conference games against Division I opponents. The Flames last win came against Furman on December 1, 2014. LU has also lost 18 out of 19 non-conference games against Division I opponents and 20 out of 22 dating back to the 2013-14 season.
  10. The Flames hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Hoosiers on Saturday at 7pm. Indiana opened their season with a 103-99 overtime win against Kansas in Hawaii. They return to action Wednesday night as they play host to UMass Lowell.

Notable quotes:
Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz –  “We have heart. We never gave up. In this game when they did that run in the 2nd half we competed. That’s what I love about my team, we never quit, we competed and we gave our very best.”

Caleb Homesley – “Definitely, this is definitely a confidence booster knowing that we can compete with anybody. We already knew that we could compete with anybody, but this was a definite test.”

A.C. Reid – “Last year (at VCU), we just didn’t execute. Although VCU has a great environment, I feel like the environment here was great tonight. I just think we have to keep improving. We can’t be satisfied with the fact that we lost by 5. Even though we lost by 30 last year, we can’t be satisfied with that. We have to come back and keep doing the same thing and keep getting better Thursday at practice.”

John Dawson – “We didn’t get the result we wanted, that’s what we play for is to win.”

Coach McKay – “I’m proud of our guys. I want to give credit to VCU where it’s due though. They’ve got a veteran team and a tradition of winning. I thin in (JeQuan) Lewis, (Jonathan) Williams, Mo Alie-Cox, they just believe they are going to have a great chance to win the game. So, congratulations to them and Coach Will Wade and his staff. I will say, I think our guys are coming. We’ve got a good team. We have a great group of young men. They are fun to coach, and they’re all disappointed. They wanted to win. I think things are trending in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.”

Coach McKay – “I was here when we were getting 6 and 7,000. We had a couple games at the end of our 2nd year where it was packed, but that group tonight, full of students, was electric. That crowd helped our team compete like we did tonight. I loved it. It was a blessing. We are humbled and very thankful. I hope they’ll come back because this team is worth it. They are worth supporting.”